The Love of a Child
by Bella Lottie
Summary: Jethro and Shannon are unable to have their own children so instead they foster. What happens when they take in a young Tim McGee and his little sister?


For the sake of this story, Tim was born in 1985 and Sarah in 1991. Shannon is still alive and after being injured during Desert Storm Jethro left the Marines and now works for NCIS. This starts around June of 1997. Obviously I do not own NCIS or its character. Wish I did though.

* * *

The ringing of the phone across the room startled the woman at the kitchen sink as she washing dishes from dinner just an hour ago. Laughing to herself, the redhead turned off the water and grabbed the dish towel on the counter, drying her hands as she turned and headed for the ringing landline by the doorway of the kitchen. Holding the towel in one hand she quickly picked up the phone and put it to her ear.

"Hello?"

Shannon Gibbs stood up straight, a frown on her face as she listened to the voice on the other end. She replied just as her husband came bounding up their basement stairs and entered the kitchen, a questioning look on his face as he headed for the sink to wash his hands.

"Yes of course we'll take them." Shannon nodded at her husband as he turned to look at her over his shoulder. "Just the two of them? Yes, we'll be waiting."

Shannon hung up the phone and turned her attention back to her husband, tossing him the towel to dry his own hands.

"It's kind of late to be getting one of those calls." Jethro Gibbs offered as he caught the towel.

"Andrea said they were just taken from the home after the police were called for a domestic abuse situation. The son was keeping his father from beating on his mother."

"Christ." Jethro closed his eyes, only opening them when he felt his wife's arms wrap around his waist. "How bad?"

Shannon shook her head as she rested it on Jethro's shoulder. "Andrea didn't say other then they were leaving the hospital now. We've got about twenty minutes before they're here."

Jethro kissed his wife's forehead as she pulled away. "I'll get the rooms ready. If there are two of them they should have their own rooms."

"We've never taken siblings before Jethro."

"First time for everything." Jethro smiled but it didn't reach his eyes as he kissed his wife, this time on the lips, before heading for the stairs to the upper floor.

Shannon stood in the kitchen wringing her hands and worrying her lip with her teeth before she made her decision and followed Jethro upstairs. She met him on the landing as he rummaged through the closet for fresh bedding. She helped him and soon they had both guest bedrooms ready for the siblings. Just as Shannon was placing the final pillow on the bed of the second room with a clean pillowcase they both heard the knock at their door. Taking a second to look at each other and gather their thoughts, husband and wife headed downstairs to welcome their new charges.

They had been married fourteen years now and after many miscarriages that almost cost Shannon her life with the last one, the couple had looked into adoption, only to settle on fostering children for the time being. With Jethro's high demanding and dangerous job it seemed like their best option. Over the last seven years they had fostered hundreds of kids, never having them longer then a few weeks at most, never having siblings or more then one child at a time. Sometimes one child was taken only hours before another was brought it. It broke both their hearts but they knew even in just those few weeks they had each of those children, they were making some sort of difference in their lives.

Jethro opened the door and stepped to the side to allow their social services correspondent into the house. Andrea Perry had been working with them for the last four years. The blonde woman was petite and no older then Shannon in her mid-thirties. Ushered into the house with Andrea were two young children. The oldest, the boy, was around ten or eleven with sandy blond hair and brilliant green eyes. The youngest, the girl, had a head full of curly chestnut brown hair and darker eyes. Her face was streaked with tears and she clung to her brother with a death-like grip on his arm.

The next thing the couple noticed was the black eye on the boy, and the sling on his left arm. Shannon stood next to her husband as Andrea closed the door behind them, turning her attention to the couple with a sad smile.

"Jethro. Shannon." Andrea nodded to them before looking down at the children. "These two are Tim and Sarah McGee."

"McGee?" Jethro looked at the children and then back at Andrea.

Andrea nodded, the sad smile still there. Jethro had heard and read many stories about John McGee, a Navy Captain who was dishonorably discharged after he was caught drinking way too much while serving after the death of his wife Morgan and son Robert just two years ago. There had been rumors about abuse in the family but nothing was ever really proven, the children stayed in the man's care and he had remarried just months later.

Shannon had heard the rumors as well and had to fight back her own tears as she crouched down to be eye level with the children. "Hello. My name is Shannon." She wanted to reach out to them but knew it would be best if she didn't. "Are either of you hungry? I can fix you something to eat, anything you want."

"Pancakes?" Sarah, who was probably no older then five, perked up.

Shannon smiled. "Pancakes it is. Would you like to help make them?"

Sarah nodded as she looked up at her brother. Tim wasn't looking at any of them, staring instead at the floor at his feet. Sarah tugged on his arm and he finally looked towards her before looking up at Shannon with a small nod. Shannon nodded back before standing and allowing the children to follow her into the kitchen. Once they were out of the foyer Jethro turned back to Andrea. Andrea started speaking the moment the children were out of earshot.

"John McGee came home drunk this afternoon and instantly started beating his wife. Tim came home from school an hour later to find his stepmother, Stephanie, trying to clean herself up in the kitchen." Andrea took a deep breath. "John was sound asleep in the living room. According to Stephanie when Tim saw her he got angry. He started yelling and throwing his school books at John. John woke up and the next thing she knew Stephanie was trying to get John to let Tim go. He had him by the throat against the wall. Tim was able to kick him pretty hard and was released before running for the stairs. Sarah was upstairs screaming."

"He was trying to get to her."

Andrea nodded. "John followed, as did Stephanie. John threw Stephanie down the stairs before grabbing Tim. He dislocated the boy's shoulder. The police showed up moments later as John was slamming Tim into the wall again."

"Where is the wife?"

"Still in the hospital. She has a few broken ribs, one of them punctured a lung. They need to keep her monitored because she is eleven weeks pregnant."

"Damn." Jethro ran a hand through his hair. "How bad are his injuries?"

"The shoulder and black eye. I few bruised ribs but nothing broken. They were worried about a concussion but he's responsive, at least he was. He hasn't said a word since I took them from the hospital. Also hasn't let go of Sarah."

"What about her?"

Andrea smiled. "No harm, other then knowing what was going on downstairs I'm assuming. If John McGee was abusive before I don't think Sarah was ever targeted. I think Tim took anything his father doled out to keep her safe."

Jethro nodded. "Thanks."

"I'll be back in a few days once I know more about Stephanie and if she'll be taking them or if they'll be placed with another family."

"Yeah." Jethro stood at the door as Andrea left, not moving until Andrea's car was pulling away from the curb.

Once the door was closed behind him Jethro took another deep breath and headed for the kitchen. He noticed that neither child had anything with them. That wasn't all that uncommon if a child was suddenly taken from their home in seconds. They had clothes for all ages they kept upstairs just for that reason and he was pretty sure they'd have something the siblings could wear to bed and in the morning. He would have to call Andrea back now that he was thinking about it, maybe to get a few of their personal effects from their home to at least make them a little more comfortable.

When he walked into the kitchen he stopped in the doorway and smiled. Shannon and little Sarah were already covered in pancake mix as they worked together to mix all the ingredients. Sarah was sitting on the counter next to Shannon as her little hand was on the spoon as Shannon stirred. Tim was sitting at the table, picking at the grain in the wood with his good hand. Jethro headed for the coffee pot. It probably wasn't a good idea to have coffee so late at night but he wasn't sure he'd be sleeping very much tonight and he really needed coffee now. He caught Shannon's attention out of the corner of his eye as she smiled at him. He smiled back as he poured himself a cup of coffee before going to the fridge to pour some juice into a glass. He sat at the table across from Tim and carefully sat the glass in front of the boy. Tim didn't even glance up or touch the glass.

When the pancakes were done and the four plates made, less for Jethro and Shannon as they had already eaten, Shannon cut up the pancakes on Sarah's plate and helped the little girl pour on the syrup. Tim still refused to look up or touch his own plate. Jethro sat watching the kid, drinking his third cup of coffee in the last half hour.

"Are you not hungry?"

There was a slight flinch as Tim looked up but quickly moved his eyes back to the table in front of him, shaking his head. Jethro turned his head to find Shannon watching him, a frown in place. They knew it was going to be tough to get through to the kid, they had dealt with abuse victims before, both younger and older then the kid now. They knew they had to be patient and let him come to them. Jethro was just glad it didn't seem like they were going to have to be patient with both kids, little Sarah already seemed to be attaching herself to Shannon.

An hour later Shannon had Sarah tucked into bed upstairs and Jethro was showing Tim his room right across the hall. Tim sat on the bed, the sweats a little too big for him clasped in his hands in his lap. Jethro stood at the door, arms crossed over his chest.

"The bathroom is just down the hall, we passed it when we came up here. Shannon and I are just through that door there." Jethro pointed to the door at the end of the hall. "If you need anything don't hesitant to come and get us, okay?"

There was no response and Jethro sighed as he pushed away from the door frame and left the room, crossing paths with Shannon as he did.

"How is he?"

"Still not talking. And her?"

"Asleep. I hope." Shannon kissed her husband. "I'm just going to check on him myself and be in bed shortly."

"Okay." Jethro kissed his wife again before turning towards their own room to get ready for bed.

Shannon joined him ten minutes later and he waited, listening to her in their bathroom as she got ready for bed. Five minutes later she slid into bed next to him and curled into his side as he wrapped an arm around her. They didn't say anything as they laid there in the dark, both thinking about how they were going to help get through to the boy just down the hall. Jethro felt when Shannon fell into sleep but he himself stayed awake for hours, staring at the ceiling.


End file.
